


you can feel it on the way home

by freckledrob



Series: soft to the touch, feels like love (reunion/boyfriends/fiances/husbands 3.0) [1]
Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Future Fic, M/M, Reunion 3.0, aaron's obviously pissed at robert, anyways sending big love to all of you robron fans out there, but here's my attempt at what i think a reunion or sorts could be like for robron, heyo i'm sad y'all, in my head this takes place about two years from now, no one has edited this so all mistakes are mine, robert tries to explain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2021-01-24 14:02:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21339427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/freckledrob/pseuds/freckledrob
Summary: robert is out of prison and aaron's still mad about being cut off from him. but robert can't go another day without talking to aaron. it's been too long.
Relationships: Aaron Dingle/Robert Sugden
Series: soft to the touch, feels like love (reunion/boyfriends/fiances/husbands 3.0) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1542304
Comments: 4
Kudos: 94





	you can feel it on the way home

**Author's Note:**

> a little attempt at reunion 3.0
> 
> (title from “you are in love” by taylor swift)
> 
> the only person who's edited this is me, so please be gentle and let me know if anything needs fixing. i just wanted to put this out there.  
-eb

Robert can’t do this anymore.

He can’t keep avoiding Aaron and he can’t handle Aaron avoiding him. The past week since he’s been back has been slow and painful and he honestly thinks that there were times where prison was better than whatever this is.

That’s how he finds himself walking up the drive to the Mill and knocking on the door. He doesn’t know if anyone other than Aaron is home or not. He doesn’t care. He needs to talk to his husband. Or his ex-husband. Or whatever he is now.

Aaron opens the door, but once he realizes who’s standing in front of him, he tries to close it again, only to be stopped by Robert’s hand.

“We need to talk.”

Aaron scoffs, “Oh, _now_ you want to talk.”

He doesn’t say anything else, but he doesn’t try and slam the door in Robert’s face again, so Robert follows him in. The house is dim and there doesn’t appear to be any sign of Liv or Seb or anyone else.

“I can’t do this anymore,” Robert states.

“Who says you’re doing anything?”

Robert sighs, “I can’t keep avoiding you and I can’t deal with you avoiding me and-”

Aaron looks like he wants to punch something. Or someone. “Yeah, well you made your bed when you cut off contact. So…”

“Listen, I know you’re mad at me. _You get to be mad at me._ You can even hate me, but everything I’ve done was for you. And Vic, and Seb, and Liv… and me.”

Aaron rolls his eyes and lets out a dry laugh, “Yeah, because it always has to come back down to _you._ Whatever Robert says, goes, right?”

“Fourteen years is a _long_ time, Aaron.”

“I know that!” Aaron snaps, “And I was fine with it! We were _all_ fine with it!”

Robert stuffs his hands in his pockets, “It was too long.”

“I didn’t care! _I loved you!_” Aaron shouts, before glaring Robert down, “And I thought you loved me.”

“I _do_ love you! I said I would always love you, Aaron, and I meant it. I still mean it,” Robert doesn’t break eye contact, “You can hate me. You can wish I never came back. You can hope I rot in hell. But don’t _ever_ say that I don’t love you. I love you more than anyone or anything in this world.”

He knows Aaron’s noticed that he keeps saying “love” instead of “loved.” He can see it in his face.

“I would’ve waited for you!” Aaron says, “I _wanted_ to wait for you!”

“I couldn’t let you do that. Fourteen years is-”

“A long time, yeah, _you’ve said that already!_” Aaron huffs, “I was fully prepared to make it work! I would’ve come to every visit!”

“Yeah, until you wouldn’t anymore!” The tone in Robert’s voice seems to shock them both.

Robert lowers his voice, “I couldn’t face the possibility that there would be a day where you would wake up and realize that you couldn’t do it anymore. Until the distance and the separation became too much and overpowered the love you had for me.”

“_Never,_” Aaron’s voice is softer now, “I could _never._ I would have waited for you. Because I love you. Fourteen years be damned.”

Robert ignores the present tense “love,” assuming it’s a mistake, “Okay, but even then. Fourteen years of a relationship with a man who was living in prison? You didn’t deserve that. No one does.”

Aaron sees the tears streaking down Robert’s face and he knows he’s crying too. “I wanted to wait, though. That was my decision. Until you took it away.”

“I had to.”

Aaron shakes his head, “You didn’t have to do anything, Robert. You wanted to.”

Robert tightens his jaw, “No. I _needed_ to. I needed to let you all go or it would kill me. I couldn’t be the thing weighing you all down.”

“You could never weigh us down, Robert. We loved you. We wanted to be there for you. And you gave up on us.”

“I thought I was doing what was best.”

“I know you did, but it just made us feel worse. Cast aside, ignored. You didn’t even give any of us a proper goodbye! We had to find out from the prison that you didn’t want to talk to us. I had to get that flaming divorce letter in the mail!” Aaron’s hands are shaking.

“I couldn’t do it in person. Or over the phone. I wouldn’t have been able to get through it.”

Robert’s voice breaks and Aaron’s heart breaks along with it, “I’m sorry.”

Aaron sighs, “I could never hate you, Robert, not really. You said you’d always love me and I know exactly what you meant because I felt it too. I _still_ feel it. _I love you, Robert._ More than you’ll ever know.”

“Still?” Robert looks so broken. Aaron wants to help him heal.

“Always.”

And with that, Aaron moves swiftly across the living room, closing whatever space was left between them and crashing their lips together for the first time in a long time, but definitely not the last.

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on tumblr  friendlycitrus 


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